Key case



' April 12,1927.

W. R. BUXTON.

' KEY CASE Filed-Feb.2, 1924' fi f6 E-j7 ff L 1/ ji m I 15" 20 I 12 f v. f; m [a 16 fl A? 36 25 14 iv y i ,1 I

y if ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 12, 1S2? warren stares.

W'ARNER R; BUXTON, OF LONGMEADOW,

1,523,959 PATENT o;- Pica.

MASSACHUSETTS, assrenon ,To BUXTON,

INCORPORATED, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- CHUSETTS.

KEY CASE.

Application filed February having a' slot through" which-the element maypass out of'the socket and by which swinging movement of the element to the desired degree is permitted. l Vhile from theoretical considerations, the head should be spherical and the walls of the socket should be correspondingly formed, it is not feasible, as a practical matter, to makethem so in a key case. A construction of head and socket must be adopted whichwill admit-of quantity production manufacture'at low unit cost. The socket-usually comprises a hollow cylindrical member having a transversely disposed slot in its periphery for the purpose above described. The head is commonly formed integrally with the shank of'the key holding-' element'by bending the shank, about an axis substantially transverse thereto, intocircular form, thereby producing an approximation of a ball head. However, this headis of thesame width as the shank, and, inasmuch" as the head must be wider than the slot in the socket, it has been the practice to recess the side edges of the shank just below the head to provide a portion of reduced width and to make the width of the slot" approximately comn'iensurate with said portion.

Such construction is shown in my prior ll. S. Letters Patent No. 1,439,863, dated De cember 26, 1922. lVhile such construction is a satisfactory one in many ways, it necessitat-es an extra operation to form the recesses in the shank. Also the key holding elements cannot be made of round wire or stock which is equal in Width and thickness.

Thisinvention is concerned with, and has for an object, the provision of a key holding element, of the general class described, which can be made without regard'to the size and shape of the wire and without recessing its side edges. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide a head, which is formed in the same general manner as that disclosed in the patent above identified, but which is differ- 2, 1924; Serial n6. 690,171.

entiated therefrom by the provision of lateral offsets thereon to form shoulders teen gage the walls of the socket adjacent the slot and prevent the head from" passing therethrough'.

By preference, theseoffsetsare formed on the head in the upper aswell as-the lower portions thereof, although the key holding elements will function when'the upper ofi' sets are omitted.

Other objects and advantageswill appear iii-the following description and in the illustrative embodiment of the invention in the accompanying drawings,in which,-

Fig. 1 is a frontel-evational view of an" open key case" embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 1s enlarged fragmentary sect'ion al elevational view thereof showing one style of key holding element;

Fig. 3 is' a similar view showing another style of key holding element;

F igs; land 5 are ele'vat-ional viewstaken atright angles showing the first named styleof key holding element;

Figs. 6 and 7 are similar views showing the other style of key" holding element; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary"seckey case, there shown, includesastrip of suitable flexible material, such asleathe-r or the like, havmga central portioi'r'or back 10 and two end portions 11 or flaps which are foldable in overlapping relation over the back 10. The flaps may be held together by any suitable means such as the interengageable fasteners 12 and 13.

The key holders, with the exception of their heads, may be of any suitable type and may advantageously consist of snap hooks 14, constructed in a manner best shown in Fig. 5, although it is not essential that the wire from which they are formed be wider than it is thick, as shown, nor of the precise cross sectional shape disclosed. These key holders 14: are mounted in sockets and usually these sockets take the form of a hollow cylindrical member 15, which, as shown, is formed as an integral part of a plate 16, suitably secured, as by rivets 1'7, to the back 10 of the case near its upper edge. The

member 15 is provided with a plurality of transversely disposed slots 18, one for each key holder and these slots are approximately con'nnensurate in width with the widest part of the wire from which the key holders l l are formed to permit free movement of the shanks of the key holders. Radial movement of the key holders is limited by the head of the key holder, as hereinafter described.

The head of the key holder is made up by bending the upper part of the shank, aboutan axis substantially at right angles thereto, into circular form, as indicated at 19. The .cad, thus formed, can turn freely about the axis of the shank of the key holder and thus swivel in its socket. The head, when turned so that its diameter lies across slot 18, is obviously restrained from passing therethrough but when turned into the position shown in Fig. 2 would pass through the slot but for the provision of offsets 20, preferably formed one on each side of the head. These oii sets are formed by working the metal, from which the head is formed, and desirably by flattening the wire down near the terminus of eye 19, as shown at 21, the flattening process serving to squeeze the metal sidewise in both directions beyond the side edges of the shank to form shoulders for engagement with the internal wall of member 15. These shoulders do not need to project very far beyond the side edges of the shank and can be formed during the operation of bendingup the eye 19.

While the shoulders 20 are sutlicient to prevent the key holder from pulling out of the member 15, the upper part of the head might, with the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, enter slot 18 to some extentand possibly, under some conditions, become caught or wedged therein to an extent siiliticient to inlerfere with free swinging movement of the key holders. 'lherefore. it is preferred to form other offsets, such as 22, near the upper part of head 17 to prevent such action. The offsets 22 are formed by flattening down the metal, and by preference, the flattening is made to occur during the operation of bending up the eye 19, although the offsets may otherwise be formed if desired. Fig. 8 clearly illustrates one .method, whereby the offsets 22 may be formed and the preferred location of these olfsets is shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

The head has been shown in considerably magnified form in order to more clearly illustrate its construction. In practice, the eye 19 is made as small in diameter as pos sible. lfhe overall width of the head is preferably somewhat less than the diameter of eye 19 and under these conditions the heat will freely turn within cylinder 15, particularly as it is seldom necessary to have the heads closely lit therein.

The invention has been disclosed herein, in an embodiment at present preferred, for illustrative purposes but the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

Claims:

1. A key retaining device for key cases and the like, having one end of its shank bent to form a circular eye and the terminus of said eye being flattened out to offset the metal beyond the side edges of the shank and form shoulders, said eye also having flattened down and offset portions at a point substantially opposite from the said first named shoulders.

2. A key retaining device for key cases and the like, comprising a circular head formed integrally with the shank thereof, said head having its points of greatest width at the upper and lower portions of the eye, the head intermediate said points being relatively narrow, said widest portions being wider than the shank.

In testimony whereof I have attired my signature.

l/VARNER R. BUXTON. 

